Career Development

The knowledge and skills gained by majoring in Geography position graduates for careers as geospatial analysts, planners, researchers, teachers… pretty much anything you are interested in!

As a starting point, look at the American Association of Geographers ‘jobs & careers‘ page; the Royal Geographical Society ‘careers in geography‘ page might be useful. Take a look at the Where Are They Now? alumni map to see what Mary Washington alumni with degrees in Geography or certificates in GIS are up to.

Use all of your resources: your academic adviser, any professors, internship supervisor(s), and employer(s) – and also friends and peers – as well as the Center for Career and Professional Development, which you can still visit after you have graduated! Attend career information sessions and internship fairs; ask questions; apply for jobs and internships and scholarships. Ask about independent research that you can do alone, or team projects that you might become involved in. Consider giving a presentation at the Geography Symposium or at UMW’s Research & Creativity Symposium. Maybe you could go to an academic conference?

To move ahead, you will need a letter of recommendation, and it needs to be good! How does a professor know enough about you to be able to write such a letter? Your grades or transcripts only tell part of the story… we also need to know you based on participation in department and university activities like those listed! Most professors also want at least two weeks notice.